Companies and governments rushed to patch vulnerabilities in PHP, a widely used web programming language, on October 22 after their flaws were followed by a surge in hacking attempts. Some government websites in Europe went offline a day earlier as operators scrambled to protect their systems.

PHP developers released patches on October 21 for two long-standing vulnerabilities uncovered with AI and urged users to update immediately.

Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince  said the company detected thousands of exploit attempts in the 10 hours before public disclosure, hundreds of thousands within two hours afterward, and millions by the time he posted late on October 21.

Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, a lender, said it was temporarily suspending some internet services. Authorities in China and South Korea also ordered checks or emergency measures.

In the US, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency also issued an alert calling for immediate patching.

🔗 Source: Reuters